Stargate: New Universe
by Flurry of Freezing Flames
Summary: The Stargate had been unused for years, left alone to protect the Earth. Deciding to use the ancient device again to explore new regions of space, both military personnel and a group of high schoolers are whisked away to a new galaxy. New threats loom as the humans learn the former inhabitants of this galaxy and themselves are more connected than they ever could have imagined.
1. Prologue- Abducted By the Air Force!

_**A/N:**_ _Alright, second try at this kind of story and I think I did it a bit better this time. Note that military stuff is not my strong suit but Stargate has always been a favorite of mine so I just had to write a new draft of my previous attempt. I'm trying to make this a very cream-filled adventure/action fic so don't be put off by the length of some chapters. Posting this Prologue and the first chapter together because they've been written for a while now, but chapter one needed some touch ups and some added content to make it fit how I wnt the story to go at this point in time. Please, don't bash this story as crap because honestly even if you do I'm still going to write it anyway. Be respectful as well because I will admit my writing since joining this site has gone downhill after having little time to actually write. So I think that's it, please enjoy and OC spots are open if you like because I made a group big enough where I only really fleshed out a few characters at once so others can be more fresh when I do get to their backstories and/or interpersonal relationships with others. Anyway, on with the show._

 _ **Prologue**_

 _Abducted.. By the Air Force?_

 _ **Crystal Springs, Meteor Heights County, July 2017..**_

 _ **San Mateos Air Force Base..**_

"This thing has been discarded for almost ten years. Ever since the old SGC sent those would-be colonists to their death aboard the _Destiny_. These calculations better be right, or it'll be my head on the chopping block." Said an aged man with thinning brownish-silver hair.

General Harrison Gillen looked at the reports strewn across his desk. The Stargate, a piece of _very_ advanced alien technology had been relocated from its previous location at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex to San Mateos in hopes to once again allow man to travel well beyond the natural borders of the Milky Way. It had been a little under two months since the move, and the general's best technicians and scientists were confident the Gate was ready for a test run. " _General?"_ Came Gillen's assistant over the phone.

"Yes, Cindy?"

" _Professor Wells has confirmed the Stargate is ready for a test. When should I tell him to schedule?"_

Gillen nodded sagely. "Tell him we do it tonight. After midnight, past reports say the Stargate is capable of causing massive blackouts from the power consumption, and Crystal Springs proper is naught a couple miles away. Tell him 0100 hours."

" _Very good, sir."_ Cindy confirmed before the connection cut off.

 _ **Crystal Springs High School, Sports Field..**_

Seventeen year old Nick Negron looked at the other students at the tryouts for the football team. Compared to Nick, most of the other students were shoe-ins for the team, looking like bodybuilders compared to Nick's thinner, more athletic build. Looking off to the side toward the bleachers, he saw the cheerleading squad practicing and holding their own tryouts, one girl out of the many present being noticed by Nick more. "Again, Negron? When are you going to stop trying for the team?" Asked the current football captain, José Ramirez as he stood before Nick, arms crossed over the barrel he called a chest.

"Fuck off, José. I _know_ I can run circles around you, and my aim is unmatched by your current lackeys on the team. Plus, it must suck having to watch your ex flaunt everything in her cheerleading outfit during football season."

"Who's talking about me? José, you aren't harassing my best friend _again_ , are you?" Came the voice of José's aforementioned ex-girlfriend Sarina Zavid as the cheerleader walked over to the two guys.

"Oh, hey, Sarina. I'm not harassing Nick, just wishing him luck in tryouts. I mean, they say third time's the charm, right?"

Sarina rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Get out of here. _No_ amount of ass-kissing is going to get you another shot with me. _You_ fucked that up." Unable to find a reply to her words, José stalked off back to the others on the field while Nick turned to Sarina with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Rini. Asshole doesn't know when to quit."

Sarina smiled. "I know. Hey, I can't make it tonight for Tabletop Night, any way we can move it this week? I finally tweaked my party to be more useful and balanced."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, of course. You know Elliot still has to do a _lot_ of prep for the next location."

"He always does. Alright, I have to get back over there. Good luck, Nicky. Make the team this time." Laughing, Nick nodded as the coach called his name and Sarina made her way back to the rest of the cheerleaders.

 _ **Later That Night..**_

Nick walked into his room and felt ridiculously exhausted after tryouts. The good news was he made the team, bad news was José decided to put him through the wringer because of it. Flopping onto his bed, Nick was helpless to prevent himself falling asleep.

Not two blocks away, Sarina stretched as she lay in bed, a notebook and pen beside her. Picking them both up, she began to write. " _Dear Journal.._ " After a short while, she put the notebook down, walking over to the window and sitting on the sill. Looking up at the stars and the waxing crescent moon, her eyes flashed a vibrant cosmic purple before returning to their usual emerald green. Laying back down in bed, Sarina closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take her.

Another few blocks away, Nick's best guy friend Elliot Tate yawned as he closed the notebook he kept his Tabletop Night materials in. "Finally ready! Now we'll see who knows what they're doing, Nick." He laughed before climbing into bed.

Two houses down, José was completing his last rep with his weights, counting in his head as he looked outside his window, spotting an odd glow coming from the nearby Air Force base.

 _ **San Mateos, 1am..**_

"Alright, test run Alpha commencing." General Gillen said, motioning for the technicians in the control room to begin activating the Stargate.

Instantly, the circular metal doorway began to spin, aligning symbols that showed on the monitor in the control room. As the third symbol locked itself, the man behind the control console announced. "Chevron three, locked. Power output nominal. Risk of blackout minimal."

However, as the Gate spun and locked in the fourth coordinate chevron, the monitors showing a sudden immense spike in the power output. "Power output spiking. Risk of blackout conditions increased to fifteen percent." Then all hell broke loose.

Down in the Gate Room, Colonel Kara Fischer turned to Professor Eddie Wells. "If this doesn't go as planned, what's the best case scenario?"

"Best case? City-wide blackout. Worst case? We might blow up the base and around a three mile radius around it."

"Well, here's to hoping for the former." Wells nodded as the fifth chevron was locked, the entire base seeming to rumble as the power output spiked again.

As the sixth chevron locked, an alarm sounded. " _Power output critical. Shutting down."_ The situation was made worse as the Stargate continued on its path of activation despite the personnel in the control room doing everything they could to stop the mechanism.

"Don't let that final chevron lock!" Shouted the General, but it was too late.

The seventh chevron locked and the Gate Room was engulfed in a white light. When the light faded, the Gate Room was deserted of the fifty or so personnel that had been there moments before. "Find them!" Was all General Gillen said, realizing they hadn't been killed, but transported. To where, though, was the question. And unknown to the General, the intended officers to go through the Stargate weren't the only ones transported by the miscalculation in power.

 _ **Current Location Unknown..**_

Nick's eyes shot open, already knowing something wasn't quite right. His first clue, however, came in the fact he had no idea where he was. The room he had woken up in was a huge concave space, unlike a ballroom. Everything about the room screamed both dark ages and future to him, the structure reminding him of middle age castles while the obvious technology that showed definitely meant he wasn't back home in Crystal Springs.

Taking in the sheer size of the room, Nick didn't realize he wasn't the only person in the room until he stumbled over someone else. Looking, he saw his best friend Elliot laying there. Then he scanned the rest of the room, his eyes widening as he saw quite a few of the other students at Crystal Springs High, including Sarina and José both. "Elliot, wake up." Getting no answer from his friend, Nick sighed before trying again. "I said wake up!" He half-shouted, kicking his friend lightly in the hip.

"Ah, shit! What the hell was that.. For.." Elliot seemed to realize they weren't where they should have been. "Nick? Where the hell are we?"

Nick shook his head as Elliot got up from the ground. "I have no idea. Whatever brought us here didn't stop at the two of us. Come on, help me get the rest of these guys up, we have to figure out where we are and how we got here."

Elliot nodded. "This better not be some abandoned asylum outside town."

"I doubt it. Even if it was, we wouldn't have even gone in with José tagging along." He pointed his thumb at the unconscious jock not from the two.

"José too? This is getting stranger by the minute." Elliot said as he went over to José while Nick went to Sarina.

Nudging Sarina, the girl's eyes fluttered open sleepily, revealing a color much different than her usual emerald green. Nick took a tentative step back from seeing now impossibly _glowing_ purple irises. "Nick? What are you doing in my room?"

Nick had to fight himself from chuckling. "We're not in your room. In fact, I don't think we're even in Crystal Springs. Me and Elliot decided to wake everyone and then figure out just what's going on." Nodding, Sarina took Nick's outstretched hand as he helped her up from the floor. "And don't panic," He whispered to her. "But your eyes aren't green anymore." Her eyes widened in surprise as she helped get their classmates awake.

Several minutes later, a total of thirty or so students of Crystal Springs High stood looking at their new surroundings, no one having a clue as to where or how they actually got there. Nick was about to speak when a new voice called out. "Stay where you are! How did you all get here?"

Looking where the voice came from, Nick and the other students saw a man dressed in fatigues, the patch on his flak jacket indicating he was a colonel in the air force. "Man, if we knew how we got here, sir, we wouldn't be so confused. How did _you_ get here? Judging by the architecture we sure as hell aren't in Crystal Springs anymore."

The officer chuckled. "You would be right about that. _We_ don't even know where we are yet. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Jared Lowe, San Mateos Base. You kids all from town?"

Nick nodded. "Born and raised, most of us. Sir, how did we get here?"

Jared shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with civilians. If you want answers, then you'll want to speak with my CO."

"Could we? We're all confused and would like _some_ kind of answers." Behind Nick, Elliot Sarina and José all nodded.

"Of course. Right this way. We've set up a command post where we think is considered a sort of control room." The group of students followed the armed man out of the large chamber.

The now escorted classmates wound their way through maze-like hallways with dimly-pulsating etchings until they came upon another large chamber. This one, unlike the room the teenagers had woken up in, had consoles and what looked like work tables strewn about, all encircling a large object ringed by consoles. _That looks like a projector._ Nick thought as he looked at the central structure only for his eyes to be drawn to an even bigger mystery: a large circular device that sat at one end of the room, symbols lining each segmented piece of the object. The lieutenant colonel stopped before a woman with a patch signifying she was a Colonel, a step above Jared's rank. "Colonel Fischer, we have a situation."

The colonel turned and started as she saw the thirty-odd teenagers behind her colleague. "This base is inhabited? By teenagers?" She asked incredulously.

"No, ma'am. These kids are from Crystal Springs."

"What?! You mean to tell me Professor Wells miscalculated _that_ badly and got _children_ transported here with us?!"

"Excuse me, ma'am," Nick said. "But we're in high school, not kindergarten. And all we want right now are answers on what's going on and if we can go home."

"Sorry, kid. Right now, we can't even contact base back on Earth. We don't even know where we all wound up."

"Hold on. You said _back_ on Earth. Just where the fuck are we? Excuse my language." Elliot asked, impatient.

"I would tell you exactly where, but as I said we don't know as of yet. All we know is we're nowhere near the Earth. Unfortunately for us, none of us know how to get these consoles working. We can't even decipher the language."

As Colonel Fischer explained the situation further, Sarina was looking around at the room, spotting several lines of symbols scrolling themselves across one of the consoles. _Why can't they understand this?_ She thought, finding her glasses and putting them on for the distance. Seeing the screen more clearly, she could make out what the single, repetitive sentence was stating clearly: _Ancient Hyperion Gene Detected._ Confused as to why she was the only one who seemed to be able to read the message, Sarina found herself wandering to the console.

Ignored by the military personnel around her, Sarina reached out and touched a sort of button on the console, the message stopping mid-type and restarting with another message: _Ancient Hyperion Gene Accepted. Welcome, Princess Tay'yla._ And that was when the room came to life.

".. And that's our current situation. Now, please move yourselves so we can figure out-" The colonel was cut off by the room being lit more brightly than before, consoles whirring to life all around them. "What the hell?! Who figured something out?" She saw Sarina standing by the one console, her eyes narrowed. "You! What did you do?!"

Sarina started, taking a step back. "I'm sorry! I can understand it. Just touching it activated the room and it called me Princess." Scared of what had just happened, she ran back to the rest of the students, beelining right into Nick.

The colonel turned, the teenager's words sinking in. "Wait. You can.. Understand this?" She pointed to the new layout of the console screen, the alien language looking like gibberish or _Matrix_ quality coding to anyone other than Sarina and, oddly enough, Nick.

"Now that I'm looking at it, I can see words, not symbols too." He said, surprising Sarina enough to have her let go of him. She gasped. "What is it?" He asked, surprised.

"Your eyes! They're _ice_ blue." This came as a shock to everyone in the teenager group. Nick had always had brown eyes, hazel to be politically correct.

Nick looked at the reflection of himself in Sarina's glasses, seeing he indeed now have glowing icy blue eyes. "What the..?"

Colonel Fischer gasped. "That's it! They have the Ancient Gene. It's the only way two kids from modern Earth would be able to decipher, let alone use alien technology. But.." She looked around the room at her men. "Half of us personnel have the Ancient Gene as well, but we can't see anything but symbols.." There was a pregnant pause before she spoke again. "Unless these kids have a _different_ alien gene."

"The console said it was called the Ancient Hyperion Gene. Nick, try touching the console. If you understand it too, it should recognize you." Nick nodded but looked at Kara. "May I, ma'am?"

Kara stepped to the side. "Go ahead. You two may be the only reason we even contact home again."

Nodding, Nick walked up to the console and pressed his hand to the same button Sarina had pushed. The screen went blank for a moment before another statement rolled through: _Ancient Hyperion Gene Accepted. Welcome, General Celondius._ Then the screen that had been present moments before returned. "It worked. It called me General Celondius. And this other screen here is a sort of menu." He skimmed over the screen, tilting his head. "There's both a communications option and a galactic map option. You said you wanted to know where we were, right? Don't we need to see a local map for coordinates for Earth? For communication."

Kara was taken aback. "Yes, that's exactly right. How do you know that?"

"I'm a teenager in the age of technology." Nick shrugged. "Nah, I watch too much Syfy channel. So, galactic map, then?" At the colonel's nod, Nick pressed the screen on whichever option he had figured was a map. Suddenly, the large projector-like object in the center of the room flashed to life, a massive hologram of a galaxy that Nick knew he didn't recognize appearing above the assembled people's heads. "Whoa. It's just like in _Mass Effect_." Nick said, his gamer self showing.

Kara put a hand on her cheek, thinking. "This is _nowhere_ near Earth. Can you try searching for Earth? If the race that lived here went to Earth at some point, there should be a record."

Nick looked at the console, the screen flashing several different options for finding what they were looking for. The second option caught his eye: _Planetary Eye (World Bridge) Records_. "There's something that says there are Records of use for something the Hyperions called the Planetary Eye, or World Bridge. That mean anything?"

The colonel and Jared shared a look before they both turned towards the circular structure near the back wall of the room. Kara pointed at it. "If it means anything, I'd say it was talking about that. A Stargate, a doorway between worlds using wormholes. See what it says. These Hyperions would have to have gone to Earth at some point." Nick nodded and pressed the console to access the submenu.

A list of symbols Nick could barely see were around the edge of the now-called Stargate listed themselves, different combinations of eight to nine symbols each. Each listing also had a designation or what Nick assumed were names of different worlds. One in particular stood out to him: _Pantheon_. He turned back towards the other high schoolers. "Elliot? The name Hyperion is part of Greek mythology, right?"

Elliot nodded slowly. "Yeah, a God or something, had something to do with the _Percy Jackson_ series I think, too."

Nick nodded again and pressed the string of symbols, the hologram flying across different star systems before resting on a blue and green world, a designation on the planet's local star reading _Sol_. Looking at the layout of this particular world's surroundings, he cheered lightly. "Got it!" Looking back at the console, he looked for some kind of date. After a few moments, he hummed. "It says the Hyperions visited Earth over six million years ago. The only other most recent location seems to be a planet called Mundus Tartarus. I know Tartarus was the Olympian Hell, so whatever had them go there, it was the last thing the Ancient Hyperions did."

Kara had walked up next to him, looking at the slowly rotating hologram of the Earth. "You said there was an option for communications. Any chance you can connect us to Earth? You've done a good job so far."

"I'll see what I can do, colonel. This is new territory for me, I'm practically guessing with this crap." He turned back to the console, finding his way back to the main menu and accessing the communications sub menu. Finding what he was looking for, he pressed the console a couple times before holding his hand down on one part of the console. "Patched in. Ma'am?"

Kara took a breath before speaking. "San Mateos base, SGC do you read me? This is Colonel Kara Fischer reporting in. Is anyone there?"

 _ **Meanwhile, on Earth; San Mateos SGC Control Room..**_

General Gillen was at the radio transmitter in an instant as a voice was heard over the link. " _San Mateos base, SGC do you read me? This is Colonel Kara Fischer reporting in. Is anyone there?_ "

He took control of the radio on his end. "Colonel? Kara, are you all alright? Where are you?"

There were cheers from the other end as Kara answered. " _It's good to hear your voice, general. The away team is fine, all accounted for. As for where we are, we haven't completely deciphered that as of yet. What we have found out is that the Ancients we know of were not the only ancient alien race to visit Earth. According to what we've already found, the people here were known as the Hyperions, and they visited Earth over six million years ago before Gating their way to another world. After that, there are no records._ " She explained.

The General scratched his chin. "Six million years, eh? That would predate the Ancients by well over a few millennia. How did you come by this information? It sounds like you're saying these Hyperions are extinct."

There was a nervous chuckle on the other end as Professor Wells' voice sounded. " _General, if I may. We on the Away team did_ not _find this information. In fact, these Hyperions seem to be much different from the Ancients who visited Earth that we know. Their language is much different. Fortunately, it seems that DNA similar to our Ancient Gene but with the Hyperions found its way here with us._ "

"What are you saying, Professor? Who is responsible for finding this information about these Hyperions?" Asked Gillen.

" _That's where the bad news comes in. All we have uncovered was found by two teenagers from Crystal Springs._ " The shock was evident on the General's face. " _In fact, the malfunction of the Stargate not only transported us on the initial exploratory team, but a group of about thirty or so local high schoolers as well._ "

The General was livid, not with anger but with concern. There had only been one other incident such as this, and that had only been a slight malfunction that had brought the team at the time to the once second Stargate that had been uncovered in Antarctica years earlier. "How did something like this happen?! Those teenagers' parents will be waking up soon, and you said _thirty_? That's the beginning of a mob if word gets out they were technically kidnapped by the Air Force!"

 _ **Away Team's Location..**_

Nick cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me, sir. General, my name is Nick Negron, one of the high schoolers. I'm actually the one who figured out how to get in contact with you back on Earth. It might seem a little unorthodox, but maybe going to the houses of us teenagers who got brought into this and telling our parents would work in your favor. Yes, our parents will probably be furious, and I know shit like this is hush hush and whatnot. But, if they at least know we're all safe, even if confused as to what exactly is going on, it would most likely not cause an angry mob. Or worse, _your_ superiors reaming you out over this. It wasn't your fault. No one could have predicted whatever the Air Force was doing would inexplicably have thirty local teens be brought with your men literally to another galaxy. And bringing all of us back is most likely impossible at the moment, not to mention me as well as some of my friends are the only ones who can help your men right now in figuring out how to work all this alien technology.

"If I'm being honest, General, this is all like a dream come true for me. Even without much other choice, the chance to explore alien worlds? An entirely new galaxy? There's no way I'd want to miss that chance."

Kara looked at the young man incredulously for his lengthy yet very logical argument. She was more surprised when everyone assembled heard the general's voice boom in laughter.

" _You got spirit, kid. Any chance you're related to the late Skylar Negron?_ "

Nick was taken aback. He hadn't heard that name in over thirteen years. "Yes, sir. That was my father." Sarina's eyes widened, she had never heard anything about Nick's father, almost none of the high schoolers had. It was usually a sore topic for him.

" _He was a good man, and a fine good soldier. I served with him in the first Iraq tour after 9/11. I think he'd be proud you wanted to help out. I'll think about your suggestion about all of your parents, but in the meantime. Colonel, have your men put these teens through Basic. If they're going to be staying there with you, they might as well do what they can to help. We'll be working on our end to get them home, but with how you all got wherever you wound up, that may be impossible on this side of the Gate. I expect weekly reports from you about your progress on learning what you can about these Hyperions. If they came to Earth before disappearing, then that could mean some hostile presence is out there with you._ "

Kara shook her head, unable to believe the teenager standing next to her had just gotten onto her superior's good side, and that was a rare feat as far as she was concerned. "Yes, sir. Understood. Away Team, out."

" _No, Colonel. Away Team was your designation if you had been able to come back. As of right now, you all are the Extragalactic Stargate Command. San Mateos base, over and out._ " The connection ended as Nick looked at Elliot, identical grins on their faces.

Kara sighed. "Well, I guess that settles that. Lieutenant, take these teens and find some quarters, will you? I have to figure out how we're going to train them." Nick didn't like the darkness behind her statement reassuring, but he followed Jared with the rest of the high school students, knowing this was just the beginning of something epic.

Kara looked at the still-rotating galaxy map, sighing. "This is already going south, and we just left Earth. I have a bad feeling about all this." As harmless as her words were, they were all the more true.

 _ **~SG:NU~**_

Deep within the reaches of this new galaxy, a dark cloaked figure sat in a throne built of bones. A servant hobbled their way up to the throne platform. "Pardon me, your grace. Mighty Hades, the Hyperion city of Utopia has been activated. It seems the cowardly Hyperion survivors have returned home."

The figure smiled darkly, rows of somewhat jagged teeth showing in the dimly-lit chamber. "Good. Send out a scouting party into the city. I want to know who thinks they can just occupy _my_ territory."

"As you say, my liege." The servant replied, hobbling off as fast as he could while the figure now known as Hades laughed maniacally.


	2. Chapter One- Battle for Utopia

_**Chapter One**_

 _Attack on Utopia City_

 _ **Two Days Later..**_

Nick panted heavily as he entered his quarters, flopping down on the cot with the last strength he could muster. Even with him and Sarina being the only ones capable of understanding the Hyperion language, it only gave them a small amount of leniency in the rest of the basic training Kara and Jared were overseeing for the teenagers. Even José hadn't had enough energy to even send a glare Nick's way as was the norm. And with the added bonus to Nick that Sarina was usually around him more now than back in school. Nick had always carried a crush for the slightly shorter half-Egyptian, and with José having had to back off because Sarina wanted nothing more to do with him, Nick figured there might be a chance if the two of them could get the energy.

For how draining all the military training was, Nick and the other Crystal Springs teens took to it all fairly quickly. Nick had even shown proficiency with the assault rifles they used, where Elliot made his mark with the sniper rifle and Sarina was unmatched out of the teens with a pistol in her hands. Nick dreaded the inevitable call to take over from Sarina at the consoles, trying to figure out why the Hyperions left their home galaxy those millions of years earlier. As he lay there, resting his body until then, he couldn't help but wonder how Sarina was doing.

 _ **Utopia Operations Center..**_

Sarina pinched her nose, lifting her glasses up to rub at her eyes. She had sifted through what seemed like thousands of old records on the console, no closer to figuring out the mystery of the Hyperion race than when they had all found themselves on this alien world. Realigning her glasses, a sentence grabbed her attention: _Princess Tay'yla, Personal Log_. Tilting her head at the name she remembered the console calling her two days prior, she opened the submenu and began to read from the third to last entry:

 _Polyx 20th, Year 43,022 Of the Lord Atlas. The Coven of Gothel has declared my child healthy and without defect, despite the circumstances of her conception. General Celondius hates that I must go through with the trade, but he realizes I must. The only way to use the Galguten and get our people away from this galaxy and the scourge of the Malachor. Even if my child must be sacrificed to their heinous genetic transmutating. The only reason her DNA wasn't added to the Utopia records was for the Malachor to be unable to gain entry into Utopia and therefore into the records saying where the Hyperion race disappeared to.._

 _Polyx 25th, Year 43,022 of the Lord Atlas. The trade was a success, and I cannot stop mourning my child now lost to me. Despite the reassurance of my husband, the impetuous coward, and our 'properly conceived' child now growing within me, the only one who could ever truly understand is Niall. Oh, Niall, my longest friend and most faithful protector. If my life had been up to me, the good General and myself would have wed, our lost child and this new life safe with us. That is the fate of the Soulbound whom do not show their feelings to one another. To love each other and only each other with all their being, only to be torn apart and their love thrown to the mercy of time and space, their awaited and, hopefully, blissful love finally achieved in another life. Of course, it only means his family will one day marry into mine in some form, whether the Hyperion race survives time or not.._

The second entry horrified Sarina, the facts of the Hyperions and their apparent enemies. Sacrificing _babies_ in exchange for peace and quiet? Genetic experimentation? Even what people on Earth would call soulmates was mixed into Hyperion culture. Sarina had also deduced that this other child, her would-be great-something aunt, could still be _alive_ , as far as technology went for experimenting with advanced alien civilizations. Then there was the big reveal of her ancestor and Nick's being soulmates, and that connection actually transcended time and space just to manifest itself again in their descendants.

 _Could that mean.. Nick and I..?_ She thought, realizing that in a way, their shared alien DNA would connect them but that _further_ connection helped fit the pieces of why she was always comfortable with Nick, more so than she had ever felt dating José. Sighing and shaking her head, she resolved to read the final entry before looking for any other information she wanted to take a look at.

 _I wish I had some sort of tablet to look through these records on. That way I could.. What the?_ As she thought about it, a side panel in the console slid open to reveal what looked very much like a tablet. Picking it up from the console, Sarina saw it was indeed a tablet, with every archived file in the Utopia database uploaded to it. "That was simple. Now to wait until I have some time alone with this. There are too many questions about me, about Nick, that I want answered." She grimaced as she refocused on the journal entries.

 _Polyx 29th, Year 43,022 of the Lord Atlas. Today is the day. The day us last several thousand Hyperions use the Galguten to traverse the universe, and find refuge for our people among the stars untainted by the touch of the Malachor. Niall says the Malachor will never find us, if only because they can't access Utopia's database. Records for the planet we will be traveling to say that only one other alien race has visited it, and they are exceedingly more docile than the Malachor hordes. All I can say is I hope we find the peace we have hoped for since the Malachor first appeared in the galaxy millennia ago._

Sarina felt scared now, unable to truly grasp why the Malachor were so dangerous, or hostile. But, the last entry seemed to confirm that they were also not of this galaxy. That made figuring out if the Malachor were _still_ around a top priority, and one her and Nick would have to find out soon.

 _ **Planet Utopia Orbit..**_

Hades, ruler of the Malachor people, looked down on the planet with a malicious smile. "What have our scouts reported?" He asked the pilot of his personal ship, the _Dredd_.

"Sir, there are upwards of about two hundred lifeforms currently holding up in the Utopia city base. Should we send My'la to investigate further?"

Hades smirked wickedly. "Yes, it will do her good to see her ancestral home again. Maybe we can find a way around her exile status in the old Hyperion networks. Send the troops down now! No need to postpone these intruders' unfortunate demise."

With his command, three smaller frigates and several scout ships all descended on Utopia.

 _ **Utopia Base..**_

Kara was the first to know anything was amiss as she saw the proximity alarm go off before it sounded. She thumbed her walkie. "Jared, we have bogeys incoming. Can you get any kind of visual?"

Nick, in his room and Sarina still seated at the console as well as any other teens who had their own walkies on them heard the announcement and were all assembled in the control room as quickly as they could. "What do you want us to do, boss?" Nick asked, his assault rifle strapped on his shoulder.

Kara shook her head. "You all are to stay inside the base. I need you to help defend inside, because we don't know how outmatched we are here. Even with the full roster of personnel, whatever this is could end badly."

As if on cue, the situation got worse as a screech was heard in the air, followed by a sinister voice. "Attention squatters. This is Master Hades of the Malachor hordes. You will surrender to us or perish."

Kara and Jared went outside to see ships already on the ground, a force field the only thing keeping the landing party from entering the city. Kara was handed a megaphone, speaking to these enemies. "We will not give our location up to the likes of you. We are Stargate Command, and we don't take lightly to threats."

"Then you leave us no choice. Jammers, pierce their shield. We shall take the city by force!" There was a sinister mix of dark laughter and the metallic sounds of blades clashing together as a line of Malachor used some form of spears to stab through the force field, bringing it down as if it was a sheet of paper. Kara slammed her fist down on the wall of the fortress. "Damn it! Get everyone ready! The battle for Utopia has just begun."

Jared nodded, sighing forlornly. "It was just too much to ask that the Malachor weren't present in this galaxy anymore, wasn't it?"

Kara ignored his concerns as they made their way back down to the main level as the teenagers were all dressing into the standard gear, preparing for the ensuing battle. Nick, already dressed in the standard combat gear, began to leave the room when Sarina grabbed his arm. "Sarina?" He asked, curious why she looked frightened.

"I don't like this, Nick. I.. There are things bigger than us, _any_ of us, going on in this galaxy, and I don't think we can go through all this and still stay the same as we always have."

Nick frowned. "This isn't like you, Rina. What's going on?" He asked, pushing the girl's dark red hair behind her ear.

"I can't lose you. Not with the things I've found out. Nick, the Malachor have our half-sister."

"Half-sister? What do you mean?"

Sarina shook her head. "My ancestor.. And yours. They were in love, and had a child out of wedlock and tradition who they traded to the Malachor for some peace. The Malachor pride themselves on genetic experimentation, and the child was no exception. Princess Tay'yla forbid her first child's DNA from being added to the records here on Utopia so the Malachor couldn't access this city." She looked away, not wanting to tell Nick anything more she had found out. Not until she had more information.

Nick sighed. "It's alright. I'll protect you from anything meaning you harm, Rina. You would have access to _everything_ in the Hyperion database, being related to the de facto matriarch. That means _you_ are the most important one out of us all."

The sentiment made Sarina smile before she remembered the relationship between the Hyperion princess and her general. "Just don't get yourself killed. I _need_ you, Nick, and not just for something selfish. You and I? We're.. Connected, in a bigger sense than you probably think. Just promise me you'll stay safe." She had placed her hand on his chest above the combat gear, bunching his shirt as it closed into a fist.

José grimaced at the scene, sighing. "I'll look after him. Nick is good with that rifle, but he likes to rush in. And before you say anything, this _isn't_ some ploy to win you back."

Nick narrowed his eyes at the bigger teen, scoffing. "I promise, Sarina. Nothing will happen to me. I'll just use this asshole as a meat shield."

Sarina gasped. "Nick! You two behave. We're stuck here _together_ , meaning we all have to look out for each other. I have Naquadah-forged bullets. One of the officers told me they can practically disintegrate a fully grown alpha lion. Nothing gets past me."

Nick looked at the girl's purple eyes, the reflection of his own new ice blue ghosting his vision. "We'll be fine. We'll all come back. Even if loss is inevitable, no one from this school dies until the upper officers deem us fit for active duty. It's going to happen sooner or later." He saw Elliot nod his head in the crowd, even silent agreement reassuring to Nick. "All I'm saying is we stick together, we _survive_ , even knowing we may never actually make it home. As that seems to be the case, we need to think of this city, this whole new _universe_ , as our home. And that means against apparent enemies, we show no mercy and show them they aren't the dominant fucking species!" The rest of the students all cheered and even Sarina smiled. "Then go get 'em, Nicky." She threw her arms around him and pressed her lips to his cheek. She giggled when he looked at her curiously. "For luck." Was all she said as she went to make sure the control room was locked up.

Nick chuckled. "Heh, alright." He made sure the rifle in his hands was loaded correctly as Elliot came up to him with a longer rifle.

"So, uh, what was all that about? Did you actually get her pregnant? In an alien galaxy?"

Nick's face reddened, knowing he should have seen Elliot's idiocy coming. "Damn it, El! No! Sarina has only ever been my friend. Honestly, that kinda scared me. _She_ seemed terrified. We have to focus and get through this, then I'll find her and figure out what's going on."

"Yeah, understood, captain." Elliot saluted his best friend, causing Nick to shake his head.

"Stop, idiot. I wouldn't even want to make captain. Too much responsibility out in the field. What about you and Destiny? I see you're usually with her when not around me."

Elliot scratched the back of his head. "Heheh, nothing actually. We've known each other since we were little. She's finding it a little hard to cope with, well everything."

"Uh huh. And _I_ know you've harbored the biggest boner over that girl since middle school. Sarina and I can't happen, for whatever reason she always used to give me. But you and Destiny have that chance. Think about it, she hasn't dated a single guy as long as either of us have known her. I'd have the impression she's waiting for someone who she's already close to."

Elliot shook his head, seeing the validity in Nick's words. "Maybe. But as you said, we need to focus on this battle, before we focus on whatever else happens with us."

"Agreed. Let's go kick some alien ass, brother."

Elliot smirked as the two bumped their forearms together. "You got it, bro."

Together, a portion of the high schoolers filed out of the prep room, finding Jared by one of the main doors into the fortress-like base. "Where do you want us, _jefe_? We're ready to help."

Seeing the determined look on Nick's face, as well as the others rallied behind him, Jared smirked. "Alright. Take point here then. Their forces are marching across the bridge, and the one ahead of them looks pissed beyond reason. You kids sure you got this?"

"As long as every gun here has Naquadah bullets." Jared nodded, laughing. "Good, then we got this. You help get anyone else organized. We'll show these Malachor who's boss around here."

"Alright, luck to you all." Jared said, making his way back towards the control room.

Nick lead the small group outside onto their end of the bridge, taking cover behind whatever they could find. "We'll only give you one chance!" He called out to the Malachor soldiers marching toward them, what appeared to be a girl around his age that reminded him oddly of Sarina, stopping the enemies' advancement. "Turn back now and there will be no conflict between our people!"

The young woman threw her head back and laughed a maniacal cackle. "No conflict? You are squatting in my mother's home! For I am princess My'la, firstborn child of princess Tay'yla and her soulbound, the General Niall Celondius." Nick's eyes widened from behind his cover. "Therefore, _I_ am the owner of this castle!"

"Maybe, but you can't use the database. Your mother never added your blood to it."

"How do you know that? You _aliens_ cannot access the Hyperion network, either."

"Wrong. We've already accessed it, or the city wouldn't have woken. I'll say it once more. Turn. Back."

"Weak little cowards, hiding and refusing to grace a princess with the identity of their enemy. Why? Too scared to face a _real_ warrior?"

Nick sighed and, despite Elliot signalling him _not_ to, walked out from the cover, his rifle trained on the woman he now noticed had two different-colored eyes, one purple and one icy blue, his and Sarina's eyes _now_ both on one person. My'la seemed to notice the blue of Nick's eyes as well. "You have Hyperion military blood?! Who sired you?"

Nick smirked mischievously. "My parents are Elias and Mariana Negron, my _ancestor_ of about four million years or so is _your_ father, General Celondius."

My'la audibly growled. "Impossible! The general would never! Not after me."

"Why? Because him and the princess were.. what did you call it? Soulbound? Yeah, that's right. Well that doesn't matter when the princess was already married. _You_ were illegitimate."

That sent My'la over the edge. She threw one arm out which had a long blade suddenly jut out from her elbow. "Enough! Stand aside, and maybe I'll talk to Master Hades about sparing your life."

Nick positioned his sights, aiming directly at the cyborg in front of him. "Fuck that! Only way through is over our dead bodies. Get 'em, guys!" He pulled the trigger sending several shots at My'la, ducking back behind his cover.

The leader of the enemy smirked. "Oh, a challenge! Maybe you'd be good for more than just a trophy in my private dungeon. I never got your name, _brother_."

"Nick Negron, but I'm no brother to you." He came back out and fired another volley of shots. The enemy deflected two of the three, while the third made a sizable wound on her left thigh.

"Agh! Fuck, that actually hurt. Alright, no more nice princess. You had your chance." She took a step forward only to have another hole blown through her right leg. Looking for the shooter, Nick saw Elliot's sniper rifle poking out from a shelf of rock, the teen himself covered with an identically-colored ghillie suit. Sighing in relief, Nick looked over the edge of his cover to see My'la laying on the ground, screaming bloody murder as she struggled and failed to get back up.

"What the fuck are you dolts waiting for? Destroy them!" Rang the cyborg's voice as the other assembled Malachor began marching closer to the teens again.

Nick cursed. "Everyone fire everything! Don't let them any closer!" As one entity, the teens guarding the door all stepped out from behind their respective covers, volleys of bullets flying toward the alien warriors. The Malachor had weapons of their own, however, proven by the return fire, not bullets but beams of hot plasma that Nick saw began eating away at one of the hiding spots.

Back and forth, weapons fire discharged across the bridge, Malachor falling more than their shots made it to their intended targets, the teens. Nick cursed again as he realized he was out of ammo, leaving him a sitting duck to the enemy. "I'm out! Come on, guys, we have this won."

 _ **Meanwhile, Utopia Orbit..**_

Hades grimaced at the scene on the ground, his soldiers decimated by children! Growling in annoyance, he pressed a button on the armrest of his ship-bound throne. "Retreat. We will take the city another day. And someone retrieve My'la's useless self."

 _ **~SG:NU~**_

Back on the ground, Nick sighed as he noticed the plasma shots had ceased. Chancing a look over the top of his cover, he saw the remaining Malachor retreating, two dragging the mangled body of My'la away with them. Laughing in relief, he slumped to the ground. "We did it. We won.. But this isn't going to be over so easily."

Elliot came up to him, holding his hand out for his friend. "We did good. Any chance that's the last we'll see those creeps?"

Nick shook his head, allowing Elliot to help him stand back up. "Not at all. This was only the beginning. And unless we figure out how to stop these Malachor for good, this fight will never be over."

"Damn. So much doom and gloom? Coming from _you_? Yeah, we're in trouble. Now come on, let's go show off to the _actual_ air force for repelling alien forces."

Nick smirked tiredly. "Fine, fine." The two walked slowly back towards the control room.

Elliot sighed. "What was the deal with that My'la chick? Or whatever her name is. She called you her brother?"

"Yeah. Technically, she would be my however many times great half-sister. And I think _she_ was who Sarina had mentioned and called _our_ half-sister. That means one of two things. Theory one, and the more likely to be true, hopefully. The Malachor abducted her as a baby before the Hyperions fled to Earth, experimented on her and put her into a cryosleep until needed, or wanted. Theory two is the one I'd hate to be true, especially for us. In this theory, right? Earth moves that much _slower_ than where we are now. Think about it. What if the last four million years of Hyperion DNA vanishing on Earth was literally sixteen or so years here. It could also explain why the console recognized Sarina and my own Hyperion DNA as ancient."

Like she knew Nick had even mentioned her, Sarina barreled into him, sending him to the floor. "Speak of the devil, _she_ shall appear." He smiled playfully at his best female friend.

Sarina blushed, her already tan skin browning slightly in her cheeks. She swatted his shoulder. "You dummy." She sat up straight, Elliot chuckling. "What are you laughing at, jackass?!"

"How you and Nick act, have always acted, and how that definitely affected the rumor mill back home. Not to mention the current position you both find yourself in."

Confused, Sarina looked down towards Nick, realizing she was indeed in a compromising position, straddling Nick. She got off sheepishly, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind. _He is yours, do not be ashamed._

"Sorry. I was just excited you came back. Was..?" She didn't voice her question.

Nick nodded. "Yes, My'la was there. But, for now, she's out of commission. Come on, I need to rest." Nick said, panting from a strain he couldn't place.

Elliot noticed the sudden change in his best friend. "Nick? You okay?"

"I'll be fine. That battle has a bit worn out, that's all." He turned back to Sarina. "Help me to the medbay?"

Sarina smiled, nodding. "Of course." She leaned him against her, supporting Nick's weight as they left the other teenagers.

Elliot looked after his best friend and the girl Nick had been hopelessly in love with for years. He turned as he felt someone tap his shoulder only for his dark brown eyes to connect with oddly shining green eyes. "You okay?" Asked Destiny Yamaki.

Elliot smiled at his own longtime crush. "Yeah, I'm good. More worried about those two, really."

"Yeah, those two are something else. Hey, wanna help me out with a little tech project I got going?"

Elliot looked at her, pleased for a distraction. "Yeah, sure. Lead the way."

 **Dredd** _ **, Medbay..**_

"You have failed me, My'la." Hades looked down on the cyborg laying in agony on the regeneration table. "How could you show such _weakness_ against such primitive creatures?" He snarled the question at her.

My'la couldn't bring herself to meet her masters' eyes. "My lord, those are not ordinary primitive beings. Wherever they hail from, they carry Hyperion DNA. The one who lead them against my men, he.. He is related to me by my father, but not my mother. Someone else in that city has the key into the Hyperion Network's innermost records, and I vow to find out who and torture their secrets out of them." The would-be teenager seethed.

Hades chuckled darkly. "Good. Now rest. We shall monitor all activity on Utopia and when they leave the city, you shall be the first to receive them wherever they may travel."

"Yes, my lord." My'la looked to see the ruler of the Malachor already gone from sight.

 _ **Utopia City, Residential Wing..**_

Minutes after the end of their first actual combat situation, Sarina lay Nick down on her own cot in her room. Nick seemed to jolt himself back to reality and noticed his whereabouts. "Rini? Why aren't we at the medbay?"

Sarina smiled sincerely at him, her eyes gluing to the strange scar now running along Nick's exposed lower left arm. "I want to take care of you, for this. Seems too much trouble to hassle the military nurses when I know my way around gauze and bandages just as well."

Nick couldn't help but smile back and sigh as he helped Sarina get his shirt off, the long sleeves giving him a hard time to come off. "You know, if you hadn't come talked to me after you and José broke up, we possibly wouldn't even be talking right now. If the world was like that, without you this close to me, I don't know how I would really cope with all this."

Sarina giggled, shaking her head as she took some gauze out and covered the scar. "That's not true. I don't think so anymore, at least." It took her a surprisingly long few moments to stop ogling Nick and focus on what she was doing.

Nick winced as Sarina dug out a bottle of peroxide and dabbed the scar running along his arm. "Ah, fuck that burns. What makes you say that all of a sudden?"

Sarina sighed, biting her lip. "Well, things have changed immensely in the last few days, from us winding up here and becoming basically Army Reserve members to today's attempted invasion. And I've learned a lot from the Hyperion Records about things that I have managed to keep close to me. Things that pertain to you, as well." The two teens' eyes met and Sarina looked away. "And what I found out? It changes _everything_ I thought I knew about you and me." Nick noticed her tone had gone somber again, like earlier before the Malachor had attacked.

"Sarina.. What's got you so scared? It's worrying me." Nick asked, grabbing and squeezing the girl's hand.

"I'm _not_ scared. Don't get it twisted because that's how it seems. No, the stuff I've found out about us is nothing short of an answer to me, being honest."

"An answer? Answer to _what_?"

Sighing again, Sarina smiled at him. "My own fears and thoughts, Nicky. Like what exactly _is_ between us that keeps you and I close? Was it possible José was actually the one for me? I don't know, really. My head has been a huge jumbled mess ever since we were in middle school. Even now, I have my doubts."

"As you should, thinking that musclehead was the end all guy for you. What did you ever even see in him?"

"To be brutally honest? He wasn't you. You and I both know we have a deeper connection than most of our classmates who are dating actually have and we're _only_ friends. It wasn't really obvious _why_ until I found Princess Tay'yla's journals. And some extra digging around in the Records."

"And your actual answer wound up being..?"

Sarina rolled her eyes at Nick's somewhat carefree response. "Princess Tay'yla and General Celondius, our ancestors respectively, were Soulbound."

"There's that word again." Sarina eyed him curiously. "My'la mentioned it to me. What's it mean, exactly?"

"From what I can gather in the historical records, it's like what we call soul mates back on Earth. In Hyperion culture, everyone has a partner they're bound to. The couples who find each other and can truly proclaim their love are called Soulbound while ones who miss their chance are left to be unhappy until death. But, the missed chances always come back to one another. Like with the Princess and the General.."

It took Nick a few moments to fully realize what Sarina was implying. When he had in fact realized the truth, his mouth gaped open in shock. "So… You and I.. Our connection..?"

Sarina nodded. "Yeah, because of our ancestors, our own souls are trying to push us together, and the force is what's got me so fucking confused!" Sarina growled out a shout, bringing her hands down hard on the bed on both sides of Nick. "You have _no_ fucking clue how often I've had to fight _myself_ to keep me from doing something I might regret and how much that actually scares the shit out of me." Sarina's eyes seemed to shine brighter than they now did normally, and Nick could tell she was angry and upset.

Nick grabbed Sarina's hands, rubbing circles on the backs of her palms as the girl visibly relaxed. Sarina shivered before pulling her hands away. "No, no. Nick, don't you get it? Because of this Soulbound thing, I feel like I can't make my own decisions. And after the crap _you_ know I've gone through, you know how much I pride myself on my independence."

Nick chuckled. "Yes, I know. But even the most independent people need a push now and then. How about we take this all one step at a time? That way it isn't overwhelming and you can think on what you really want. Either way, together or not I'll always be there for you."

Sarina sighed, turning away from Nick entirely. "I know you will, and I know that's not the bond talking because you've always been so genuine with me that even that scares me sometimes. You still feeling drained?" Nick nodded when she looked back at him. "Alright, just lay down. I'll make sure no one comes looking for you."

"Are you sure? I mean this is _your_ room.."

"Damnit Nick, just listen to me and lay down. Jeez, always so stubborn."

"You love my stubbornness." Was Nick's only answer as he laid back and, as his head hit the pillow, passed out.

Sarina leaned her head on one hand, smiling as she watched Nick sleep. _Always so cute when you're asleep._ She thought as the voice from earlier spoke up again in her mind.

 _ **You're thinking about all of this too much. You can see he wants you as you want him.**_

 _What.. Who exactly_ are _you? Why are you in my head?_

 _ **You poor, sweet girl. You really don't have even a clue as to who I am?**_

Sarina thought about it, realizing she _did_ have an idea who the voice was, especially from the regal tone. _Princess Tay'yla?_

 _ **And she's as bright as she seems indeed. Yes, child, I am princess Tay-yla of the Hyperion capital of Utopia. Now, why do you hesitate about the Soulbound bond?**_

 _You being in my head all the time, you would already_ know _why I hesitate._ You _were a princess, royalty! I was born into poverty, my family tore itself apart and my only consolation from any of that bullshit was the determination to make my own decisions about everything, be independent when the world was upside down. My_ feelings _for Nick, not this bond I never asked for, are what keep me distant enough to keep my cool. I will not have emotions I have had for_ years _dictate my actions._ Sarina clenched her fists at her sides, the boiling point of her anger quickly approaching.

The Princess' voice giggled. _**You're cute. I've**_ **always** _ **been in your head, even going so far as to give you a nudge, as the boy put it, bringing you both together. You see, my dear Niall is inside that boy's mind and knows everything as we do. It seems the boy's-**_

Sarina cut her off there. _Nick. His name is Nick! He may not be your 'dear Niall', but he's just as precious to me and it scares the hell out of me. I pushed him_ away _because of how conflicted my feelings for him are. I_ can't _fall for Nick, I know that already.._ Her voice trailed off, urging a curiosity from the long dead monarch.

 _ **And what has made you so sure of that?**_

 _Ugh, like you really give a shit. Your only goal is to be reunited with the General so your bond can be fully realized. What do you care about the girl whose body_ you _are inhabiting and her_ own _feelings, right?_

 _ **Do not take my eagerness for the Soul bond to be realized as selfishness. The bond being realized is not just for my own soul to rest, but yours as well. Being Soulbound is about trusting and loving your chosen until death, and when realized brings both parties extreme happiness. No, I ask you why you believe you cannot fall for that b- Nick- as you say, because I care for the happiness of my bloodline I myself was denied.**_

Sarina sighed, knowing her ancestor was right and- even to herself- she couldn't just lie and pretend the elephant wasn't in the room anymore. _Fine, you win I guess. I can't fall for Nick because I already fell for him so long ago I can't even remember when I first figured it out myself. I've loved that dummy since before I even knew what love_ was _and ever since the over-hormonal years in middle school I told myself it was just a crush. But it never left me, and here we are to this day I can't profess my feelings because i know then my life is not just my own and-_

 _ **Enough. You are being harder on yourself than any of my other descendants. The bond is a gift, not something to curse possessing. You and Nick will be connected in ways that will make you hate yourself even more for doubting your feelings. I have seen my daughters fall to guilt and become bitter in their lives, and the Lord Atlas help me, I will not see another fall.**_

 _Gift? How is something that connects two people so intimately a gift?_

 _ **You answer your own question, child. The bond is not just love, but an endless connection that protects yourself and your beloved. Like your overbearing need earlier today to make sure he was alright. But it goes deeper than that. Unfortunately, I cannot explain anything more to you right now. Think on the matter, and I feel you will know what the right thing to do is.**_

 _Y-yes, I will._

 _ **Oh and one more thing. You and Nick are not the only descendants present on Utopia, and not the only Soulbound as well. All will become apparent in time.**_ And like that, the whisper inside her mind quieted down and Sarina looked over at Nick's sleeping form.

 _You've always been there, even when I tell you I don't want you there. Grandmother was right, as they usually are. I've loved you for so long I don't know how or even if I could find another connection like the one we've always shared._ "I love you, Nick, and I'm sorry it's taken this long for me to truly admit it." She brushed a tear she hadn't known was even there from her eye. "Even though you're not awake to hear it."

Sarina dug the tablet out of her pack near the bed and began a new entry for her new journal, something months of therapy had taught her actually helped her focus on whatever problems she had. After she had finished her latest entry with the line ' _confessing, even to an unconscious Nick, felt freeing and like I suddenly had no problems at all. Maybe this Soulbound thing isn't a jail sentence like I figured at first.'_ , she found herself laying down on the small cot, feeling most at home just staying still and hearing the steady breathing of Nick next to her.

 _ **Later, Elsewhere in the Residential Wing..**_

"Alright, so what is this chip supposed to do, exactly? And how confident are you that the Hyperion technology can be converted for our use and gear upgrading?" Asked Elliot as he inspected the finished microchip laying on the workbench situated between him and Destiny.

"Totally sure. The last couple nights, since we all arrived here, I've been having weird techy dreams. Like, this microchip was a product of last night's dream. If it works, which I am confident of, then installing a chip into any of our digital wristwatches will essentially upgrade it to have a small 3D holographic display of local terrain, the chip sending a constant sonar pulse to show movement from both our friendlies and hostile or native forces of the other planets we could potentially visit."

"Really?" Elliot asked, somewhat skeptical of the girl's words. "And you dreamt this little thing up?" Destiny nodded enthusiastically. "Well then, I guess we'll see just how well your dreams are because that's one wild story."

"Yeah, I know. So, let me see that spare watch you always carry with you." Elliot looked at her surprised, he didn't know anyone other than Nick that even knew about the watch he kept in case the one he usually wore broke.

Destiny tinkered with the watch, inserting the microchip in and playing with other components until she closed the back of the watch back up. Pressing the button that would otherwise light up the digital display, the display became a projector as a map of the Utopia City base showed itself, zooming closer to show Elliot and Destiny where they were and the surrounding area. Elliot was taken aback, amazed. "Holy shit. Good job, Dez. Now, do we bring this up to Kara?"

"Not just yet. I'd like to do a field test with it first, figure out if there's any bugs to still work out. Thanks for helping me out with my project."

Elliot smiled at the girl. "Not a problem. Anytime. We're probably the most tech-savvy teenagers in our crew anyway. Other than Nick, but he's definitely shown himself to be more of a leader with today."

Destiny had a slight frown on her face at this. "What happened out there anyway? Nick was the only one who even looked worn out and stressed. It's no wonder Sarina was so worried."

"Yeah, I can see your point. All I know is whoever was leading those Malachor guys? They have some connection with Nick _and_ Sarina and that alone makes me worry for our whole group. Especially those two."

"Why those two in particular? Other than the obvious sexual tension thick enough you need a machete to cut through it at times."

"That's exactly why. Something about their connection to this world, this galaxy, just makes me worry. About all of us." _But especially you, Dez._

 _ **Good, worrying about the young lady is a good sign..**_ Said a voice inside Elliot's head, causing him to shake his head.

"Anyway, I'll get going. I'm starting to feel a bit worn out myself."

Destiny smiled, rolling her eyes. "Alright, El. See you around." She said as Elliot began leaving her quarters.

Elliot saluted her as he walked out of the doorway. "You know it." _What was that voice?_ He couldn't help but think as he walked towards his own room, not knowing his dark eyes were now glowing a dim green.


End file.
